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Friday, 16 September 2016

Hi there, yes it's me, Penny the Jack Russell dog and modest internet superstar! My human dad, Gary, is about to take a plane to Vancouver. Okay, he's actually leaving on the morning of September 19. I said goodbye to him yesterday, September 15. From now and up until October 7, I will be staying with my human brother, Tristan and his girlfriend, Sue. From the evening of Friday, October 7 until Sunday afternoon, October 9, I will be staying with Gary's ex wife because Sue and Tristan will be spending the weekend in Munich, Germany. Gary arrives back on October 9.

This means that a soon as Gary gets back from Manchester airport in the taxi, he'll be getting into his car to come and get me. I hope he remembers which side of the road to drive on.

While I'm pawing this pawst, I visualise Gary doing his final preparations for his trip to Canada. I sensed how stressed he was because there was over three weeks of him wondering if he would even be allowed to board the plane. He seems so much better now he knows that all is okay.

It's going to be a real challenge for him. For my human dad has lots of anxiety and he's travelling on his own. He hates travelling on his own. I wish I could of gone with him. Alas, the logistics would have been too much.

Then again, he is flying on the blogger's favourite airline, "BlogAir". Hopefully, whatever blogger who ends up sitting beside him doesn't start going on and on and on about blog hops, blog fests or anything to do with the alphabark, um, alphabet! Hopefully, whatever blogger who ends up sitting beside him doesn't go into acronym overdrive, such as, " I'm doing YA writing with an MG theme and my WIP is coming along real good!" WTF!!? ARF!

You might have realised that I have actually worked for BlogAir. However, Penny the Pawlet has now retired. Shame really because I could of taken Gary to Vancouver and had a brief stopover meeting his friends, family and of course, his adoring fans. Yes, Gary's delusional. We must humour him.

I will miss Gary and I know he will miss me. It will be wonderful to see him when he gets back. Gary, if you do get onto a computer when you're in British Columbia, pawlease, pawlease, bring me back some delicious Canadian doggy treats!

Friday, 2 September 2016

If you read my last post, you might of worked out that I've endured over three weeks of bureaucratic bullshit, to the bullshittiest extreme.

Oh yeah, I applied to have an extra layer of security on my British passport, despite the leniency period that's still in force during the time I was scheduled to take off to Vancouver. Doing what I thought was the right thing turned into me battling with a bunch of "do not reply" emails. Over three weeks of frustration, anger, panic attacks, anxiety, mood swings, as I battled with misinformation overload.

How I've managed to keep it together is thanks to you and my constant positive visualisation of greeting my parents on the other side of Customs at Vancouver International Airport.

What happened to me should of never happened in the first place. I was determined that justice would prevail. When I first got rejected for Canada's Electronic Travel Authorisation aka "eTA", I had no idea what was wrong. To make the situation even more aggravating, I hadn't a clue what they wanted from me in regards to documents, despite my several pleas asking them what they wanted.

My head went into speculation overdrive. Why was I being denied an eTA? Had the authorities found out about my kinky parties that involved covering myself and any willing participants, with maple syrup? Maybe they found out about my rendezvous with a moose? Or maybe, just maybe, they noted the time on Spanish Banks beach in Vancouver when I got caught by a police officer illegally consuming a Molson Canadian beer in a public place. The police officer yelled at me, "Down that beer!" I reacted by downing the beer, not onto the ground, but down my throat. I recall he was not impressed but did sort of chuckle.

It did transpire that they'd decided that I had permanent resident status in Canada and thus, I was supposed to board the plane with an up to date Canadian Resident Card, complete with a photo. I'd never even heard of such a card. What a crazy, confusing caper.

Today, I'm feeling rather smug. I must keep my smugness and my silly grin under control. After just over three weeks of sheer torment, I have defeated the Canadian bureaucratic monster! Today, I received, not one, not two, but three emails from the Canadian immigration authorities. Here's the gist of those emails. "Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada's review of your Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA) is now complete. Your eTA remains approved. You remain authorised to travel to Canada by air." They also stated within one of the emails that they conceded that I had been experiencing technical problems with the account I had to set up with them. I actually received an apology for any inconvenience caused.

It figures, yesterday I went and got a whole bunch of documents sorted. I spent almost an hour with a professional photographer as she had to get my photos just right for the Canadian government photo specifications. After a frantic day and at much expense, I sent all the information required to the Canadian High Commission in London to prove that I actually don't live in Canada. Then, today, I got those emails. What a difference a day makes.

In the words of those two Canadian legends, Bob and Doug McKenzie, I'm going to "Take off, eh!

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About Shy, Humble And Lovable Me

Greetings, I have been honoured to have my blog 'klahanie' featured on the B.B.C.'s radio station 'Radio 5 Live'. On a show titled: 'Pods and Blogs', I tried to highlight in my interview, that it is time to eliminate the unfair stigma that is still attached to mental health issues. I firmly believe that the media can help redress the balance. How about sensationalizing the positive recovery stories rather than the negative stereotypes that people with mental health issues have to endure?
I am a man challenging his 'inner critic.' I will not 'surrender' to my symptoms. I give myself permission to be positive. I try to live my life with positive anticipation. I refuse to let negative speculation overwhelm me. We all have the right to peace and contentment. I want to give others positive affirmations. I am not daunted by my loneliness. For in my solitude, I have discovered a determined resilience. I care passionately for people who have been undermined in an unjust world. I challenge the stigma that still surrounds mental health issues.